Burst Angel:Demon Wings
by SailorIo24
Summary: DISCONTINUED...At least for the time being. I'll come back to this once my other stories are completed. Sorry about that. But enjoy what I have completed.
1. Chapter 1

**Part 1/ "The Angel of Flame"**

As usual, Jo was enjoying her horror movies after hunting down another bounty. She ignored everything else around her, though the aroma of food cooking in the kitchen slightly peaked her interest. Her red-haired friend Meg sat across from her with her head rested in her arms.

"Lunch'll be ready in about an hour", Kyohei announced. Meg lifted her head off the table and yawned drowsily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"It's about time, I'm starving!"

"Yeah, I figured you guys would be hungry after that job you had this morning". Kyohei turned down the heat to the stir-fry rice and took the freshly baked bread from the oven. He looked up when Sei entered the trailer, having just finished a conversation on her cell phone.

"Food smells great, Kyohei. We really appreciate you cooking for us", the twenty year old replied sweetly. The young student cook blushed and returned her smile.

"Oh, it's no problem at all…"

"Great. Because I have a little favor. I was wondering if there is enough…we'll be having a guest". Kyohei scratched his head for a second.

"Uh…sure, I suppose. I can make more no problem. Luckily, I don't have class today". Meg and Jo exchanged suspicious side glances.

"What's up, Sei? You never mentioned this to us", Meg questioned, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"One of your Bai Lan guys?", Jo put in emotionlessly without even looking up from her movie.

"Well, no…not exactly. But you girls will make her feel welcome won't you?"

"_Her?_ Who is it? Don't tell me you went and hired someone else to our team!? Jo and I don't need any help. Come on Jo, _say_ something", Meg complained. She glared at the silver-haired teenager, waiting for her best friend to back her up. But Jo merely shrugged her shoulders in a 'Why should I care' gesture and returned to her movie.

Meg retired outside on the roof of the trailer, laying on her back looking up a the clouds. She moaned as her stomach growled hungrily; she wanted nothing more than to eat. But lunch had been pushed back fifteen minutes so Kyohei could run out to the market to pick up more ingredients. His food really was worth the wait, so she didn't really mind too much. At least before he left, the group had a small snack to hold them over until their "guest" arrived. Meg closed her eyes and tried to get her mind off food, which she found to be impossible. Suddenly, a shadow loomed over her, blocking out the sun. Meg opened her eyes to see Jo staring down at her, a slight grin on her face.

"What're you doing?", Jo asked as she sat down next to the red-head.

"Nothin'. Just thinking. Hey, what do you think Sei's got in mind for this mystery woman?" Jo stared out into the parking lot where the trailer was parked.

"Don't know. Don't really care either".

"Oh come on, Jo. Are you telling me that you're not in the least bit worried?"

"…Should I be?"

"Sigh You're impossible. You don't care about anything that doesn't involve bounty hunting or all those horror movies you watch", Meg replied. She gave up, sitting back on her elbows.

"That's not true…I care about you", Jo replied as she meet Meg's glare. Meg held back her smile and rolled over on to her side.

"Yeah yeah, I know". Jo reached over and poked Meg in the back, making her jump.

"That's what happens when you turn your back to me".

Just then, a bright red trailer with black flames painted on either side, pulled into the parking lot. Meg sat up and watched it roll up next to theirs, followed closely by Sei's car. Meg stood and dusted herself off, slowly walking over to the railing to watch the activity below. Now that she could see it better, Meg noticed that the new trailer wasn't much bigger, though it had a sleeker design - she liked it. It was really shiny and smooth, like it was brand new. Two minutes passed before the new trailer's engine turned off, letting out streams of white steam from several exhaust pipes. A door opened on the driver's side, and out stepped a tall very lean and slightly tanned girl wearing a dark red trench coat that covered a dark blue leotard cut off at the knee on one leg, a smoke grey scarf, and bright orange hair. A breeze ruffled it gently, making it look like her hair was on fire. Meg's jaw dropped as she came to the realization who this teenager was.

"… Come right on in, Ryoko. Our little Kyohei has been in our kitchen fixing up a great lunch", Sei replied. The teenager didn't answer at first; her eyes had traveled up to where Jo and Meg were staked out. Ryoko met Jo's searching glare, and for five seconds it was as if the two could read each other's mind. Finally, the flame haired rock star/bounty hunter looked away and proceeded to walk back to her trailer.

"I'll be right there. My sis is still sleep I think…she'll be hungry I'll bet. I hope that cook of yours can fix more than one style of food. Rin's picky about what she eats", Ryoko informed. Sei smiled and motioned towards the trailer.

"Take your time. Just come in when you're ready. I'm sure the girls are anxious to meet you". Ryoko watched Sei disappear into her trailer before turning around and heading back to hers.

Now all seated around the table, Sei began introductions. Meg was most interested in their guest. Ryoko was pretty well known around Japan at being one of the best J-pop/rock singers. Needless to say, Meg was a really big fan. She had a few of her cds and had managed to get to her last concert. Amy caught Meg staring and a smug expression grew across her face.

"Gosh, Meg why don't you just ask for her autograph. Or maybe take a picture…it'll last longer", the eleven year old computer hacker snickered. Meg flushed red and stuffed her mouth full of fried rice, whacking Amy on the head with her free hand, making her whine. Ryoko seemed annoyed at the outburst at first, staring down Meg; her eyes were red like her trench coat. But then she chuckled and took a sip of the miso soup.

" Heh Are you guys always like this? Hey, this soup is great. I can't tell you the last time I had good food like this. We move around so much that we never really have time to sit down for a decent meal". Kyohei came from the kitchen carrying another platter full of food.

"Oh, thanks. I get lots of practice…I'm studying to be a pastry chef".

"Pastries, huh? Hey, did'ja here that, Rin…you love pastries", Ryoko replied. Her thirteen year old sister huddled closer to the corner, not looking up from her plate; she hadn't taken a single bite since they all sat down. She twirled her short dark blue hair nervously in her fingers and looked out the window, pretending to see something interesting outside.

"Come on, Rin. You have to eat something or you'll make yourself sick". Rin still didn't budge…

"What's her problem?", Amy asked with a mouthful of curry noodles. Ryoko shook her head and drained her glass of juice.

"Nothing…she's just really shy around strangers. But believe me, once she gets to know you, she never shuts up. Rin's pretty smart. She likes to play around with broken gadgets and fix them. She's got a network set up in our trailer, too…ow!" Ryoko was abruptly cut off as her little sister kicked her in the ankle. Then she pulled Ryoko's trench coat off the back of the seat and hid herself under it.

"So, Ryoko what brings you here?", Meg finally asked after gathering her courage. The flame haired singer finished her plate of food and proceeded to pile more on it.

"Sei here tells me that you guys hunt bounties as well…and that one of you is a cybot pilot", Ryoko replied as she glanced over at Jo, ' My other two teammates are away on a vacation. Normally, I can handle things on my own with my cybot Suzaku, but Rin here worries about me and she insists that I enlist some help on this new bounty I received. This guy has flunkies behind them and they are all rumored to have powerful cybots. I could use the backup". Ryoko's sister finally decided to participate in the conversation. She popped out from under Ryoko's trench coat with a very serious look on her face.

"… I want to help you! Why won't you let me fight with you!?"

"Well, she can talk after all", Jo replied as she leaned back, having had her fill of food. Rin caught herself and huddled back in the corner, embarrassed.

"First of all, your cybot is out of commission because of that last fiasco you pulled. Because of that, it'll be in the shop for at least another week. The new parts you needed weren't cheap, you know. Second, this job is too dangerous, you'll get hurt. I'm only looking out for you…".

"Have you heard about this guy, Sei?", Meg questioned. Amy pulled her computer out from under the table and accessed the net.

"There have been rumors going around about some mafia group selling stolen cybot parts underground…Yeah here he is! Whoa, this guy's got a huge bounty on his head. Hey ,Sei if we're gonna take this job, we better do it quick before RAPT gets to him". Ryoko grinned and polished off her soup.

"I don't think you have to worry about that, kiddo. These guys have been running RAPT around in circles. They've already spent millions and lost hundreds of their men already."

"What do you say Jo? There's enough to split between us and Ryoko…", Sei asked.

"I don't really care about the money. I bounty hunt for the pure joy of it. You guys can keep it if you want". Ryoko reached over and took her trench coat from her sister.

"Where is this cybot of yours? I want to see it", Jo replied with her arms crossed. Ryoko's expression hardened; she didn't like the fact that this girl was challenging her. She grumbled under her breath and jammed a few pot stickers in her mouth.

"If anyone should be asking to see anything, it should be me. Just how good are you with this DJango I heard about?" The two cybot pilots stared unblinking, sizing each other up; the tension in the room instantly got tighter.

"Good enough", Jo answered, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Ryoko grimaced and tried to hold back her temper; she definitely wasn't liking this silver haired bounty hunter's attitude.

"…Our bounty's on the move. Rin and I have pin-pointed his next location somewhere in the downtown Ikebukuro district within the next two days. If we want to catch him we better be ready', Ryoko informed as she tossed her trench coat over her shoulders, ' I think tonight we should go over our strategy".

"How'd you figure out where this whacko would be?", Amy asked not looking up from her computer. A proud smile came across the singer's face; she affectionately ruffled her little sister's hair.

"You're lookin' at my team's computer hacker. One of his flukies got careless and thought he could take me on. We got all the information we needed from the cybot's mainframe I busted up". Rin growled and climbed over the seat, and without looking back, left the trailer.

"I think going over everything will be a good idea. How about we all meet back for dinner and we can discuss our plans. Does that sound all right?", Sei asked.

"Mm. Sounds like a plan…that is if it's all right with your cook. What do ya say, kid?", Ryoko called to Kyohei who had begun to clean up.

"Okay. Since you're our guest, is there anything special you want me to fix?"

"Anything would be fine, don't worry about it. Look, don't take things personally. I'm sorry Rin won't eat the spaghetti you fixed her. It's normally her favorite dish, but…well she hasn't really been herself ever since our mother passed away. She was only five at the time, she's still taking it pretty hard". A silence swept over the group.

"That's too bad. It must be really tough for you to raise Rin all by yourself. I know what it's like to look after younger kids", Meg replied sympathetically.

"Ah, it's not as bad as you think. When all of us are together, it's like we're all family. We keep each other company". Meg smiled and put an arm around Jo.

"We kinda have that here too. Just one big happy family…who hunts bounties"


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2/ " New Friends…And A Rival"**

Rin's sister had left her in the care of Sei and her group while she took the state-of-the-art tractor trailer to get a proper tune up. The thirteen year old had not been very happy with the idea of being left with total strangers, and fought for at least five whole minutes demanding that Ryoko take her along. But her sister thought it would be a good idea for her to stay behind and get to know the people they would be working with. After Ryoko had left, Rin returned to the strange trailer and confined herself in the kitchen area, staring out the window at nothing. She didn't even notice when Jo sat down and set up her tv. Rin was distracted long enough to inspect the short-haired bounty hunter out of the corner of her eye. She was about the same build as her sister, though Ryoko was a little tanner and taller. There was a mysterious aura about this girl…something almost inhuman. Yet, there was nothing physically wrong or indifferent about her. Rin relaxed a bit as her gaze traveled to Jo's eyes; her crimson eyes showed nothing dangerous or suspicious. They seemed to express a certain calmness…

"…is there a _problem_, kid?" Rin jumped and almost fell off the seat, startled and flustered that Jo had caught her staring. She recovered herself quickly and shook her head vigorously in response. Jo shrugged her shoulders and adjusted the tv before turning it on.

"S-Sorry…", Rin whispered in a shy soft-spoken voice.

"Forget it. How.. old are you?"

"Thirteen". Jo stared emotionlessly at Rin for a second. She could tell that the girl was trying to be social.

"You like horror movies…? Cause' I'm going to watch one. I'll go somewhere else if you…"

"No no, that's okay. I don't care, really. Sis likes that kinda stuff too. I'm not scared of scary movies, I know they're not real", Rin boasted. A small grin appeared on Jo's face.

"Oh, yeah?" As Rin shifted her position to get a better view of the tv, Jo noticed the holster she wore on her hip.

"Aren't you a little young to be carrying that?"

"You mean this?', Rin questioned as she opened the clasp to the small pocket. She pulled out the weapon and lay it on the table, ' It's not even a real gun, just an air pistol. Ryoko won't let me have a real one yet, but she promises she'll get me one for my sixteenth birthday. I want a Beretta, just like the two sis wields". At that moment, Kyohei entered the trailer along with Meg and Sei, all were carrying bags of food.

"Well, it looks like you're getting to know our Jo, huh Rin? You must be hungry now since you didn't eat anything at lunch', Sei replied with a friendly smile, ' Kyohei, you wouldn't mind fixing a little snack for our young guest now would you?" The student cook grinned and placed the shopping bags he was carrying into the kitchen.

"Sure…What would you like Rin-chan? I can fix anything you want". Rin blushed pink and glanced over at Jo.

"Ummm…t-that's okay. I don't want anything…I-I'm not hungry". But as soon as she finished her sentence, Rin's stomach grumbled loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. She groaned and sank deeper in her seat, overwhelmed with embarrassment.

"I think your stomach disagrees with you, kid. Just bring over anything, Kyohei, she'll eat it", Jo stated without budging. Meg put the bags down she was carrying and joined Jo and Rin at the table. After a few moments hesitation, Rin slid out from behind the table and headed towards the door, and only stopped when Sei cleared her throat and blocked her way.

"Where are you going? You know you shouldn't go out by yourself, Rin. Your sister left us in charge of you and I think she would be upset if anything happened to you", Sei replied in a motherly tone. Rin shifted uneasily and backed away, avoiding eye contact.

"I…I just wanna go for a walk! Please let me go," the young cybot pilot pleaded. Sei put a hand on her hip and looked over at the others.

"Meg, how about you accompany young Rin here on her little walk. Make sure she stays out of trouble".

"Huh!? Why do I have to do it? Besides, she's a big girl, let her walk by herself,' Meg growled. She turned back around and propped her head up on the table, closing her eyes, '…and I don't feel like it anyway. It's obvious she doesn't like any of us. Just let her go". Rin stared at the back of Meg's head, then pushed roughly passed Sei and out the door running, not looking back.

"Rin, come back here! Sigh That's just great, just what we need right now," Sei huffed as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Nice one, Meg. I think you hurt her feelings," Jo said as her movie was ending. As if things couldn't possibly get any worse, Ryoko returned in her fire red trailer; this time she was trailing behind an extension, taller and wider than the primary trailer. Ryoko parked and turned off the engine, soon climbing out of the driver's seat carrying a knapsack. When she saw Sei standing in the door to her trailer, she waved and trotted to meet her.

"Is my sis around? Her cybot was finished today…a lot faster than I figured. I thought that she should take it out for a test run to recalibrate it to her likings", Ryoko informed.

"Well, the thing is she just ran out…literally". Sei waited for the flame haired singer to get angry, but instead she sighed heavily and dropped the bag she had slung over one shoulder to the ground. After rummaging around a bit, Ryoko pulled out a small portable computer and handed it to Sei.

"This is Rin's computer…It's got her cybot's operating system on it. You told me that that Amy girl of yours was a computer hacker as well? She can use this to remote control Byakko. I'll search from the sky with my cybot." Sei hesitated before taking the small computer and opening it.

"I must say that you're taking things awfully well…and you seem to have everything thought out". Ryoko pulled off her trench coat and scarf, and adjusted her gloves. She tied back her waist length hair into a ponytail and headed back towards her trailer.

"This isn't the first time she's run off. I think part of her likes the idea of having people running after her, giving them a good run-around. Like I said before, Rin's not stupid. She knows how to avoid being caught, so this might take a little while".

From the window, Meg and Jo watched intently as the extension to Ryoko's trailer separated from the primary trailer, the top and side panels opening out to reveal a cybot a little smaller than Jango shaped like a saber-tooth tiger. It was shiney white and silver with stripes that glowed a neon purple. It's front and back paws were heavily built to support the metric tons above it. The neck was equally strong and sturdy, lined with small exhaust vents. On the tops of its shoulders and legs were small pivoting wings attached to ion thrusters.

"Wow, would you look at that. I've never seen a cybot like that before. It's so pretty. Hey, you think Amy can really control something like that by remote control?" , Meg asked as she turned to look at Sei. But the young leader of the group was just as impressed by the cybot as Meg. But the most impressive thing appeared out of the rear of the red primary trailer.

Bright yellowed-orange wings exploded out from its hanger, followed by a small head, crimson-red streamlined body, taloned legs and tail complete with two long flexible cables ending in what looked like giant ninja throwing knives. The cybot phoenix was only slightly larger than Jango, but the giant bladed wings made it seem a lot bigger. The fire bird gleamed in the sun, giving it the appearance that its body was wrapped in a shield of flames. On its back were the two ion thrusters that propelled it at sub to supersonic speeds, and just underneath each wing were two gun turrets capable of firing twenty rounds per second – it was definitely a sight to behold…

"Amy, can you read me?," came Ryoko's voice. The young computer hacker had set up a small network connecting the trailer's master computer along with hers and Rin's portable ones. Amy adjusted the remoter visor that she wore over her eyes; it was Rin's own invention that connected the user to any cybot it was linked to…in this case, Byakko.

"Roger that! I'm ready when you are. I've already went through all the specs of yours and Rin's cybots, and I got to say they're really amazing. I can't wait to take this thing out for a test drive…"

"Don't get carried away, now. Try to focus on the task at hand…You can have fun later," Sei replied as she looked over Amy's shoulder.

"I know that!"

Ryoko hovered over the two trailers in her cybot, giving herself time to check over all her systems and helping Amy maneuver Byakko off of the platform. The metallic cat moved effortlessly onto the concrete, and from the trailer, Amy powered up its engines as Ryoko jetted off. In two or three giant leaps, the tiger cybot had caught up to its partner, zipping along the cleared mega-highway.

Meanwhile and some distance away, Rin wandered through the dark streets of downtown Ikebukuro. Usually more cautious about her surroundings, the pre-teen ignored everything that wasn't in her field of vision; the tough-looking vagabonds that hung out at almost every street corner and alleyway didn't seem to phase her, though she did keep a hand close to her air pistol. A sudden beeping from her pocket drew her attention and she dug around for a while before pulling out a metallic oval-shaped device – it was the homing beacon for her cybot Byakko.

"That's strange…I could have sworn I turned the thing off," Rin replied to herself. Then she remembered the mention of that young girl Amy being a computer hacker as well. Rin smirked and ran into the closest alley, finding the cleanest spot she could and sat down. She then pulled another device from her other pocket, something that looked much like a palm-pilot, and placed it on the ground before her. Tapping on several buttons, a small network of mini holograms appeared in mid-air, taking positions all around her head…If the people back in the trailer were going to look for her, she was going to make them work for it. Rin typed quickly on the holographic keyboard to find where Amy's signal was coming from, creating a mini virus to slow her down…

"…Ahhh! No way!"

Amy worked frantically to get around the blockade that had just popped up on her computer.

"What happened?," Jo asked. Amy growled and tried to find a way around the block.

"She's set up a firewall and sent a virus through the net! Grrr…She's good. But it's going to take more than that to beat me".

Up in the sky, Ryoko was having her own troubles; her own little sister was now fiddling around with Suzaku's mainframe, making it difficult for the singer to get a proper lock on her sister's location. Rin's skills on the computer had only improved since she started going to a prestigious technology school, and the usual methods that Ryoko used to debug her cybot's computer were now useless. Frustrated, the singer knew that the only way to find her sister now was to relay completely on Amy; this was now a battle of the brains.

For the next hour, Amy and Rin fought for supremacy over the network, sending blocks and viruses back and forth. Amy maneuvered Byakko down the busy streets among the traffic; little did she know that while Rin kept her busy through the net, she was also re-programming her cybot's main computer. She succeeded in slowing the mechanical cat down long enough to reset its memory.

" …What?! Oh, this girl's really starting to get on my nerves. She thinks she can pull a fast one over on me? Well think again…! Hah, take that!," Amy sneered, sending her most complex firewall yet after finally getting a fix on Rin's location.

Rin fell over backwards as her computer began to blink red. She panicked and tried to recover, working at full speed to create a quarantine. But before she could finish, a shadow loomed on the street just outside the alleyway. Her cybot Byakko pushed its giant head the futherest it could go into Rin's hiding place, and over its loud speaker came Amy's triumphant voice.

" Hah! I win this round, girl. But I got to say, you gave me a challenge. I think we'll be good friends," Amy replied. Rin hesitated before gathering up her things and dusting herself off. She sighed in defeat and proceeded to climb up Byakko's front leg to its cockpit. Once inside, she took over the controls, recovering all the data she had just recently reset. Her sister's image popped up on the screen to her right.

"I hope you enjoyed yourself today, making me worry about you. I think you owe me and all those people back at the trailer an apology, don't you think?"

"Fine, I'm sorry! Sheesh, all I wanted to do was go for a walk and they were making a big deal about it," Rin groaned. She fired up her cybot's engines and headed back towards the trailer, with her sister close behind in Suzaku.


End file.
